A Light in the Darkness
by Professor Padfoot
Summary: Yuna (Final Fantasy X) is sent to the Final Fantasy 7 world by an encounter with Sin and must help save the Planet from the dreaded Sephiroth.
1. Haunted Past

The waves danced gently under the dock in the evening sun. The fading red light cast shadows on a young woman's face, leaning out over the dock. Her fingers were in her mouth making her whistle a strange tune.  
  
She stopped after a while, running her fingers though her feathery brown hair. "Tidus.... where are you?" She turned slowly, reluctantly, and bumped into a man behind her.  
  
"Sir Auron!" she gasped, gazing into his dark glasses.  
  
He grinned, shifting the weight of his sword of his red-cloaked shoulder. "Sorry to disturb you, Lady Yuna. I was listening to your whistling."  
  
Yuna blushed and looked away, one hand clutching her shoulder.  
  
"I know it's hard."  
  
"Sir Auron, please forgive me, but what are you doing here? I thought..."  
  
"I have come back for a short time. There is something I must do."  
  
"What is-" she was cut off by a blast of salty wind. Turning, she saw a huge form loom from the waves, growing to cover the setting sun. "Sin!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Yuna, but it must be done," Auron shouted over the roar of the waves.  
  
"What has to be done?" Palm leaves and blinding sand raced by her head with the wind to swirl into a glowing abyss above their heads. "Auron, we killed Sin! What's going on?"  
  
"This story is not over. Forgive me, Summoner." Auron grabbed her by the waist and held her up to the light. "We will meet again."  
  
"Auron!"  
  
Author's Note: I don't feel its terribly significant that I include this, considering that I'm not making any financial profit, but: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or X, nor do I claim to. This story is based on a rather bizzarre dream of mine, but I'm enjoying writing it anyhow. As always, please remember to review! If only a few people review, I will assume no one is reading this and will not continue the story. I hope you enjoyed. 


	2. Awakening

Yuna woke with a start, warmth playing on her eyelids. She was lying on coarse, warm sand; the cold waves lapping her bare feet. She breathed in deeply, then coughed. The air smelled funny, it was thick and had the distinct smell of.....burnt rubber.  
  
She wiped her eyes and groped about for her staff. After a moment, her fingers relaxed on the cool, polished wood.  
  
"Hey, there, little missy."  
  
Yuna jumped up, clutching the staff close. An man, clothed in only a tiny pair of thin, black shorts stood before her. He rested one muscular hand on his hip and ran the other through his spikey black hair. "What are you doing on the beach fully-clothed, if I may ask?"  
  
Why doesn't he call me by my title? Oh, he must not realise I'm a summoner. "Excuse me, sir," she asked, brushing the sand off her dress. "But what-" she stopped short, staring around her.  
  
Many partly clothed people lay aorund the beach, some on colorful blankets and some on chairs. A few were even drinking vibrant-colored elixirs from oddly-shaped cups. Behind them loomed tall, sturdy, colored houses with glowing signs on them. "W-Where are we?"  
  
The man laughed and gave her an odd look. "The Costa del Sol, where've ya been? Say, gorgeous, you wanna go for a swim with me?"  
  
"N-no, thank you," she walked with a dignified air past the people on the beach who all gave her odd looks.  
  
"What in the world is she wearing?"  
  
"Damn, she's pale."  
  
"What's with the painted stick?"  
  
"Why does she have better graphics than us?"  
  
She walked up the stone steps to the town, and stood in the town square considering where to go next. How did I get here? What is the Costa del Sol? Does this village have a lack of clothing materials?  
  
"Hello there," a man swaggered up to her, red hair bobbing, in a white suit that looked too big for him. "You appear troubled. Is something the matter?" he asked through a dashing smile.  
  
This man seems nice.... "Yes, I-I'm lost..."  
  
"Well, it's a pretty small town. Say, would you be interested in getting a drink with me?"  
  
"A-all right," I am pretty thirsty.  
  
The man held out his arm and they walked to a nearby pub. The place was dark and humid, but what reached Yuna most was the smell. It was sharp and stung her nose.  
  
The man lead her to a table and held the chair for her while she seated herself and rested her staff across her lap. The warm sun filtered in through the dirty windows, casting a golden glow across her delicate features.  
  
"Two pina coladas, thanks," he told the smiling, scantilly-clad waitress, then turned his piercing emerald eyes to Yuna. "I don't believe we've made introductions. My name is Rufus. What's yours?"  
  
"I am Summoner Yuna... from the Isle of Besaid," she smiled.  
  
"What... a summoner?... from Bethsaida?"  
  
"Yes, a summoner. From Besaid."  
  
"Where's that?"  
  
"East of Luca, it's a very small village."  
  
"Luca?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The man nodded thoughtfully as the woman placed the two pina coladas on the table. "Oh, thank you. Now, Miss Yuna, what exactly do you mean when you say you're a.... summoner?"  
  
Yuna eyed him oddly. What does he think I mean? Why does he call me 'miss' and not 'lady'? Has he not ever heard of Luca? Where in the world must I be?  
  
"I call upon the spirits of warriors past to aide me..." she looked down at the staff on her lap. "To defeat Sin."  
  
"Sin?"  
  
"Have you not ever heard of Sin?"  
  
The man shook his head in an indecisive manner. "Continue."  
  
Yuna's mismatched eyes widened in shock, but obediantly continued. "Sin is a powerful monster that has been plaguing my homeland for many generations. I....I have defeated it by calling upon those spirits, Aeons, to help me. I was supposed to have died, as many other have before me, but a man saved me...." She stopped as her lips began to form his name: Tidus. Wait! Could Tidus be here? She looked up excitedly to Rufus, but his face was different. It was darker somehow, and his eyes glinted with a ferocious desire.  
  
He leaned in closer to her, his breath barely above a whisper. "Then how did you get here?"  
  
"A..... deceased guardian of mine..... he came to me. He brought Sin... and he... there was a light... in the sky... he gave me to it..."  
  
Rufus leaned back, nodding thoughtfully. He glanced back her, looking carefully over her face, her eyes, her lips. "Well, I must say, Miss Yuna, that I find this all very fascinating. I want to you to... come with me. I know some people that may be able to help you get home."  
  
"Really? So you believe me?" Yuna's eyes lit up with the words. She was surprised anyone would believe a story that sounded so outlandish, even to her own ears.  
  
"Yes, Miss Yuna. As strange as your tale sounds, I think I believe you."  
  
Author's note: ooooh... seems like Rufus is concocting something. But what use is this strange girl to him? I guess we'll have to see! By the way, the stuff Yuna smells on the beach (just to clarify a few hings up because I've been getting a few questions) is pollution. Obviously, there's little pollution in a machine (or machina) -free world, so all the sights and smells are new to Yuna. 


	3. Two Worlds

Yuna stepped gingerly into the 'helicopter' behind Rufus. At first, she didn't believe this huge misquito machina could actually fly, however her views soon changed when the operator pushed a button and made the blades whirl menacingly.  
  
"Buckle your seat belt," commanded Rufus gently in the seat next to her.  
  
"My.... what?"  
  
Patiently, Rufus leaned across the seat, pulled the two straps from under her, and fastened them on her lap. Yuna began to blush, feeling that another person really shouldn't be touching her in that manner, but after all, he was helping her.  
  
She leaned back into the blue cushioned seat, staring blankly out the window. "Where are we going?" she asked meekly, clutching her staff closer.  
  
"Just a building I own, Shin-Ra Co. I don't suppose you've ever heard of it?"  
  
"No...."  
  
"Well, I want you to meet a friend of mine, his name is Dr. Hojo."  
  
Yuna stared into his green eyes that were looking so intently back at hers. "Rufus, I do not think that I am sick."  
  
Rufus laughed gently as the helicopter noisily left the ground. Yuna gazed in amazement out the window next to her, placing a hand on the glass. The black landing pad grew smaller and the helicopter teetered slightly. This machina could really fly!  
  
She was flying!  
  
Yuna could just picture Rikku crawling up next to the pilot, trying to see how he made it fly. The thought brought a sad smile to her face.  
  
"Finally, I see you smile."  
  
She glanced at Rufus, her smile never flinching. "I did not know that machina could do such wonderful things. I now why my ancestors....." her words faded, and she turned again to stare out the window at the passing landscape. Trees, grass, rivers, all beneath her whizzed by in shades of green and blue.  
  
The journey went on for hours. Yuna didn't mind the time. In Spira, she had to learned to hide her feelings, keep Spira's hope. She had grown accustomed to keeping herself calm and composed. After all, her life was not about what she wanted to do. It was what the people wanted her to do.  
  
To be their encourage, and to die for them.  
  
"My, someone's quite the conversationalist," Rufus commented after a time.  
  
"Forgive me. I was.... thinking."  
  
"Don't worry, its not a sin."  
  
Yuna winced.  
  
"I think we're going to he there soon. See?" he put on hand on her shoulder and pointed with his other hand to direct her gaze out the window.  
  
A large machina city loomed out the window. Huge skyscrapers reached into the air, as though trying to rise higher than the next. Thick, white smoke poured from metal tubes all over the city. She could make out people, far below her, going about their business as freckles of color.  
  
"This is Midgar."  
  
Yuna caught her breath. It was the closest thing she had ever seen to the city Tidus had so loved, Zanarkand. Now she could see what Tidus was talking about, why he wanted to get home so badly. Thousands of people, great tall buildings, and flying machina!  
  
One building towered over all the others, windows reflecting the red cloak of the setting sun. The helicopter landed gently on the roof, several helmeted men running importantly back and forth around the vehicle as it landed.  
  
"Now listen to me, Yuna, before we get off," Rufus said as he helped her to unbuckle her seat belt. "Once we go inside, I will leave you. I have some business to attend to. You will be escorted to a waiting room by my men and I will be certain you get dinner. All right?"  
  
Yuna nodded and smiled at him. He unboarded, immediately being swept away by a crowd of the helmeted men. A few other carefully helped Yuna out of the helicopter. She was escorted by the men into the building. They lead her down several hallways, machina signs glowing all around the walls.  
  
Eventually, she was lead into a small room with a table, an orange couch, and potted plant. The helmeted men saw that she got in safely, then quickly left.  
  
Once she was sure they were gone, Yuna slumped onto the couch, resting her head on the armrest. Such a strange world, she thought. Sleepily, she stroked the armrest, thinking about home. Spira. How can machina be bad, if it could do all these amazing things?  
  
Lulu's words, spoken long ago on a shoopuff ride, echoed through her clouding mind. Something about machina not being bad, just the people that used them.  
  
Fatigued, lost, and confused, Yuna soon drifted into a peaceless sleep.  
  
Author's note: sorry there hasn't been any yuna/sephy yet. I promise it'll come! my, I have some strange dreams! anyhow, the next chapter's all about sephy, so stick around! 


	4. The Dark Angel

Rufus stepped into his office, straightening his tie importantly. He walked to his desk, pressing a button on his telephone. "Send Hojo up immediately," he spoke into the speaker. "I think I have secured a most interesting specimen."  
  
He seated himself, and swiveled in his seat to look out the window. He always felt very important when he would swivel his chair from the window to face other people in the room.  
  
He knew Hojo had entered the room when he heard an excited squeak behind him. "Mr. Shin-Ra," the man said. "I was told you had a.... specimen for me?"  
  
Rufus smiled and turned importantly in the swivel chair to face Hojo (I love doing that, he thought). "Yes, I think I may. Granted, I haven't a chance to test her claim yet, but I'm sure that you're more than capable."  
  
"Her claim, Mr. Shin-Ra?" the small man questioned, rubbing his green- tinted hands together anxiously. His greasy hair, that always seemed so repulsive to Rufus, was pulled into a ponytail behind his head. Then again, he guessed this man was too busy with his experiments to bathe. He was not asked to sit down.  
  
"Yes.... How shall I begin? As you know, about a thousand years after the Cetra's settlement on Earth, a highly sophisticated civilization called Spira emerged. They created a capital city known as Zanarkand. They were so technologically advanced that it was believed their god became angry and sent a water monster to attack the city. The people therefore banished all machines from their society to appease the god. They then chose to live in small, scattered villages all over Spira. Certain people were trained in those times in the art of summoning powerful beasts in an attempt to temporarily banish the monster, Sin, from their land."  
  
Hojo nodded impatiently. "I know all of this. Fairy tales, nothing more."  
  
"I found a girl yesterday who claimed she was a Summoner."  
  
"A Summoner? She would have to be over three thousand years old," Hojo stated bluntly, but edged hungrily forward. "How do you know she's a Summoner?"  
  
"That's what I want you to figure out."  
  
"You're not going to have me test every person that comes running in saying they're a Summoner!"  
  
"There's something different about this girl, though. Her clothing appear to be made of organic fibers, and her skin," he tried to hold back a grin. "...doesn't seem to be affected as our is by pollution. She carries herself with an unusually regal bearing and her speech is much too eloquent to be some bumpkin from the slums."  
  
Hojo nodded excitedly. "I can't wait to begin the tests!"  
  
Hojo walked out of the room, chattering happily with himself. "If she is a Summoner, I can only imagine how much power she has! How marvelous it would be to summon and use magic without materia! If I can just learn her secret, I'll be the most powerful being on Earth! And I know exactly what I'll do....."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The stars shivered in the icy heavens as they looked down on the Earth. Below them, a tiny point of warmth flickered, a flame.  
  
The heat reflected off a young man's face, smirking humorlessly as he stalked among the burning houses and dead bodies. As he began to encounter less survivors, the adrenaline was began to slip away. Sweat trickled down his forehead, his sweaty palms gripped the leather hilt of Masamune tight. No survivors.  
  
His leather trench coat dragged behind in the blood-flecked snow. He knew it was painfully cold, but he could not feel it. He was beyond pain. He stared through his breath in the firelight, rising with the smoke to the heavens. He had forgotten a building, a cafe.  
  
He went to try the handle. Locked. Drawing back, he then burst forward, crashing through the shop window. Shards of flying glass ripped at his skin, but he just wiped the blood away from his face.  
  
He glanced around the room in the dim light from the houses burning nearby. Nothing of any interest. No people. He prepared to incinerate the establishment.  
  
He lowered his eyes and chanted, feeling a warm ball of flame materialize in his open palm, when a newspaper headline on a nearby table caught his eye.  
  
'THE SUMMONING OF A SUMMONER'  
  
He ceased chanting, the fireball disappeared into a small whiff of smoke. A Summoner?.... He read further.  
  
'She has baffled the most ingenious of scientists for the past ten months. Her powers have puzzled the most learned scholars. But is she for real or just an elaborate hoax? The Chocobo News investigates.  
  
'Ten months ago, Summoner Yuna claimed to have washed up on the Costa del Sol. After being discovered by the renown and successful business-owner, Rufus Shin-Ra, she was taken to the Shin-Ra building where studies commenced to see if her claims of extraordinary powers were for real. The results of their work have astounded the scientific world. Shin-Ra scientist Dr. Hojo comments, "At first, we thought she was merely crazy. Anyone claiming to be able to [summon] without the aide of materia has to be over three thousand years old! But after only four months of testing, there was no questioning her claim.... She has the power to summon many [beasts] we know of, such as Shiva and Ifrit, but also many others we have never heard of.... She also exhibits many qualities pertaining to a Cetra. She is truly a remarkable specimen."  
  
'However, not everyone is as willing to discuss such a ground-breaking discovery. Rufus Shin-Ra was unavailable for comment on the Summoner, and we were not allowed to interview or photograph the Summoner. However, rumors indicate she is being kept somewhere in the Shin-Ra building.'  
  
Sephiroth stopped reading there. He grabbed the newspaper and thrust it into one of his pockets.  
  
Yuna....  
  
The journey to Midgar would be long, but if he could manage to locate this 'Summoner', perhaps he could learn her powers and become completely invincible. Then no one oculd interfere with Mother's plans.  
  
Suddenly, he heard a scuffling behind him. A man crawled out from behind the counter, dragging his mangled leg behind him. He called to Sephiroth pitifully. "M-my family ... you've killed my family!" The man wailed. "H- how could you? How could you kill all these people?"  
  
Sephiroth frowned, falling into a low stance. His green eyes glinted mercilessly. "Like this," he hissed. The blade glinted as he shot forward, his movements silhouetted by the flames of the outside buildings.  
  
There were no survivors.  
  
Author's note: Sorry, when I posted this chapter last night I was in a bit of a daze (it's been long week,) so I had quite an abundance of spelling and grammatical errors. Thank you for pointing them out! I believe I've thoroughly ironed them all out now, so enjoy! 


	5. The Price of Entrance

Sephiroth stormed down the halls of Shin-Ra Inc., a trail of corpses and blood in his wake.  
  
The halls now seemed deserted. He suspected anyone with any sense was now hiding... or dead. Not that it really mattered. He wasn't here for a blood- fest.  
  
Not today.  
  
He strood down the hallways, encountering no people. He knew where he was going. He'd been in this building a thousand times, even grown up in it.  
  
It hadn't been a happy childhood. Memories rushed back into his head with devastating force and he struggled to push them all away.  
  
Sephiroth had no childhood.  
  
Sephiroth had no weaknesses.  
  
After several more hallways and staircases, he knew he was in Hojo's sector of Shin-Ra Inc. He was in a particurly long hallway, the walls were lined with huge tubes. Inside them, specimen after specimen floated among the blue goo. Some looked almost like ordinary people, some looked horribly disformed. All were pawns of Hojo's sick experiments.  
  
Sephiroth gazed steely at the tubes, wondering if the Summoner could be in one of these. However, he realized that this was impossible. Hojo would never leave something so important in such a vunerable place.  
  
He searched the scientist's office when he came to it, tearing papers out of the desk with a wild hope of finding information of the Summoner's whereabouts. When this proved unsuccessful, he stormed the hallways of the Hojo's portion of the building, kicking in doors with ferocious strength. He met no one.  
  
He finally came to the last hallway in that sector. It was long with only one door at the very end. Lined up in front of it were ten SOLDIERS and...  
  
"Looking for something, Sephiroth?"  
  
He smirked at the familiar voice, but it was not from happiness. "You know what I want," he stated calmly, the Masamune resting on his shoulder.  
  
The man in the lab coat at the end of the hall made a motion, his slick black hair shining in the pale light. "You can't have her. She's my specimen," Hojo nodded to the line of men behind him. "Besides, we've only been through the initial phase of testing. It would be a pity to lose such a valuable subject now."  
  
"I'm not interested in your tests. I'm taking the Summoner and there's nothing you can do," Sephiroth lowered the Masamune, grinning at Hojo under his silver mane. "And you can't even begin to imagine how long I've wanted to kill you."  
  
Hojo smirked back and raised an arm to the SOLDIERS behind him. "Go!"  
  
The ten SOLDIERS all raised their rifles and aimed them at Sephiroth's head. Despite their number, he could see the fear in their eyes.  
  
Time seemed to compress in one moment. Sephiroth raised an open plam and quickly chanted hushed words of ancient magic.  
  
Concentrating, a huge ball of glowing energy sprang from his black-gloved hand. He hurled it at the squadron, hitting five men who fell back into pools of their own red blood. While the remaining five men were still recuperating from shock, Sephiroth charged forward.  
  
Masamune, in his left hand, hacked one one man in the chest. Sephiroth knew he'd hit because could feel his steel slicing through flesh while the warm blood sprayed onto his clothing. With his right hand, he grabbed a man around the neck. Swinging his great sword with mastered ease, he easily slit the SOLDIER's throat and zeroed in on the other three SOLDIERS.  
  
Sephiroth whirled around one man, a wind of black, grabbing him from behind and broke his neck. Turning, he swung Masamune in a great arc, the razor blade slicing off the last two SOLDIER's heads.  
  
But Sephiroth was not to be distracted. Instead of gazing victoriously over the ten bodies at his feet, he merely stepped over them. He glanced about the blood-stained walls. Hojo was nowhere to be found.  
  
He growled in frustration, but turned to the door the SOLDIERS had died to protect. He opened it and stepped inside.  
  
Author's Note: I realise I'm not very good at writing fight scenes. Therefore, there probably won't be lot in the coming chapters. That is, I think.....  
  
This story sure has taken on a life of its own.  
  
I don't own or claim to Shin-Ra Inc. or SOLDIER (laugh). 


	6. The White Angel

The room was almost unbearably warm. Sephiroth's first thought was that it resembled a large prison cell, the colors were bland and the lighting was dim. His mako-infused eyes ran over the examination table in the middle of the room to the chair in the corner. In it sat a small woman, staring out the singular window ahead of her into the streets.  
  
He shifted uneasily, shouldering the Masamune. He could feel the aura of power in the room, but also the sadness. "Are you the Summoner?" he asked, his voice was low and seemed to roll on, like a purr.  
  
The woman visibly jumped in surprise and turned to face him. To her, he looked like the black-clad Angel of Death. Silver hair and marble skin were freckled with blood while ruby drops trickled down the blade of his massive sword ever so slowly. But what caught her most about him were his eyes, glowing emeralds in the darkness of the doorway by their own flame.  
  
"Yes," Yuna's voice choked in fear.  
  
The warm air around her shivered. She understood the words it produced.  
  
Stand.  
  
Obediently, she stood, gripping her staff tightly to her. Who was this man? He was not one the scientists she had seen nearly every day for the past ten months. Should she fight?  
  
Sephiroth glanced over the young woman, clenching and unclenching his great, sweaty palms. He was surprised, but on the outside he appeared calm and composed. This was not what he had been expecting. He had been expecting a big, powerful man like himself. After all, a Summoner was the highest class of Mage, therefore the strongest in the magic arts. Here was just a tiny, delicate female.  
  
No matter.  
  
Without looking, Sephiroth shut the door and strode to her. Yuna flinched, considering running away. The notion quickly passed when she discovered that he was suddenly right next to her, staring down at her with fierce emerald eyes. Her eyes widened. She tried to back away, but he grabbed her arm in an iron grip, crushing it. Yuna yelped as the pain throbbed up her arm and tried to pry his hand off her, but it was useless.  
  
"Let go of me," she pleaded, feeling tears well up in her eyes.  
  
"Be still," he snarled. Reaching his other hand behind her thin neck, he pressed into the back of it. She collapsed unconscious into his arms.  
  
Sephiroth picked her up and lay her across the examination table, tying her arms over her head. Now what?  
  
He stood back, looking over her and pondering her from a distance. Could this really be an ancient Summoner?  
  
He slowly drew closer and bent over her, his silver hair brushing against her shoulders. Along with her overwhelming aura came the strong smell of tropical flowers mixed with musk and magic. He gazed over her face, framed by wisps of feathery brown hair. Her eyes were closed, her dark lashes brushing her cheeks. Her skin didn't look worn and weathered by pollution and battles, as most people's did, but rather soft and lightly sunburned. And, although he would never admit it, enticing.  
  
He glanced over her clothing. The fashion certainly seemed ancient; a white top wrapped around her neck, pink sleeves tied halfway up her arms, a flowered yellow obi, and a soft purple skirt with part her leg showing through the slit up the side.  
  
She stirred, her eyes fluttering open. In an instant he was upon her, the sharp blade of the Masamune against her throat. Again, she heard something, felt something, telling her what to do. Yuna closed her eyes and tilted her head back, exposing more of her neck.  
  
"Please be quick," she whispered softly.  
  
"Aren't you afraid?" he asked coldly. She could feel him on top of the her, the warmth of his breath on her face when he spoke.  
  
A tear formed in the corners of her closed eyes. "No."  
  
Sephiroth frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together. His eyes glinted dangerously. "You should be," he hissed.  
  
"Most of my life I have spent preparing to die."  
  
He paused, considering. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I am a Summoner," she felt the cold blade press a little harder against her throat. "It is my duty to sacrifice myself for the people. But now what Sin is gone, I was just beginning to..." she stopped, a single glistening tear trickling down her cheek.  
  
He lifted the Masamune from her throat, and leaned back. Yuna still did not open her eyes, as though scared of what she might see if she did. Reaching down again, Sephiroth easily sliced the bonds holding her arms then looked at her face. Her wide eyes were open and staring into his, two mismatched orbs of deep emerald and sapphire.  
  
"Y-you're not going to kill me?"  
  
"Prove you're a Summoner."  
  
Shakily, she sat up, gripping one of his arms as she did so. "Very well."  
  
She gingerly stepped from the examination table, placing one bare foot on the cold floor. It gave way beneath her and she felt two warm, strong arms collect her and help her to stand.  
  
Yuna glanced at him in surprise as she gripped the front of his leather cloak. She did not hold it against this man that he had threatened to kill her, as she had been expected death all her life, but kindness seemed uncharacteristic. He stared back at her with a pale green, unfeeling gaze.  
  
"Your recovery time shouldn't take this long," he stated shortly. "Get on with it."  
  
She nodded and pointed to the floor behind him. "My staff..."  
  
He growled and let go of her, retrieving the painted staff that had rolled to the other side of the room. He thrust it into her outstretched arms. "Stop making delays, Summoner," he growled in his deep voice.  
  
Unafraid, she glanced at him and clutched the staff to her. "I have a name."  
  
Sephiroth grabbed her by the front of her shirt, pulling her face towards his. Her eyes widened, but she did not flinch. She was not about to show this horrible man the fear she really felt. "I don't care what you're name is!" he roared. "Just summon something or I'll impale you on the end of this," he held the tip of the Masamune to her neck. "Do I make myself clear?"  
  
"Yes." He let go of her roughly. "Stay behind me," she whispered to him.  
  
She spread her arms, and closed her eyes tightly as though concentrating. After a few seconds, she opened them and shouted to the plastered ceiling. "Valefor!"  
  
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Sephiroth was considering the circumstances when colorful, glowing symbols appeared on the tile floor around them in a language he couldn't understand, filling the cell with an unearthly light. Mako? To his horror (or amazement), the symbols began to rotate, shimmering colors dancing off the walls, and an enormous bird crashed through the ceiling.  
  
Unafraid, Yuna walked to it amidst the bits of falling plaster and choking dust and stroked the top of its white beak to the horns at the back of its head. She buried her face into its red, scaly neck while the huge, leathery wings spread over her protectively. Sephiroth could overhear her murmuring something, "Thank you, Valefor." She turned to face him but did not leave the magnificent bird's side.  
  
"Is this what you wanted?" she asked meekly. She had trained herself to smile when she was angry or upset, and now her lips curled up in the thin smile.  
  
Sephiroth was impressed, but on the surface his marble features portrayed calmness and uninterest. "Yes, it is." He strode to her but the bird only drew defensively closer to the Summoner, its glowing yellow eyes narrowing.  
  
"Please don't come too close," Yuna said.  
  
Sephiroth stopped advancing and watched her turn to the bird. "You are dismissed," she whispered, petting the bird lovingly. Valefor.  
  
The bird hesitated.  
  
"You will know if I need you."  
  
The bird appeared to nod then flapped it wings, flying back out the way it had come.  
  
Yuna turned back to Sephiroth, returning his cold gaze. "Do you believe me, now?"  
  
"Yes," he stated calmly. "What was that?"  
  
"It's an Aeon. His name is Valefor."  
  
He brushed a lock of stray snowy hair behind his shoulder and strode closer to her. She was defenseless now. "A what?"  
  
She shrunk back from him, from his glowing green eyes. After years of controlling her emotions it was easy not to show her fear, but it did not mean that she was not afraid of this dark angel and what he might do. "An Aeon. A spirit of a warrior who tried to defeat Sin. They come to me when I call..."  
  
Her voice trailed off as they both heard footsteps echoing on the stairs at the end of the hall. Reinforcements, thought Sephiroth. I should have thought of it sooner, it's been too quiet.  
  
"Come with me," he said, looking down at the small woman, but not into her eyes. The temperature of the room was beginning to bother him as beads of sweat began to form on his brow. He was almost thankful for an excuse to leave the cell.  
  
She obediently followed him to the door, her feet padding along behind the heavy thud of his boots. Sephiroth placed a gloved hand on the handle. "Be prepared to fight," he advised icily.  
  
"Fight?"  
  
Sephiroth groaned. There wasn't time. "Don't tell me you can't defend yourself."  
  
Yuna blinked, then smiled and nodded. "I can take care of myself."  
  
Thus, Sephiroth swung the door open to the reinforcement SOLDIERS.  
  
Author's Note: Next chapter, Sephy and Yuna escape Shin-Ra and the plot thickens. 


	7. Aid to Escape

Sephiroth swung the door open. A thick line of SOLDIERS surrounded the door, their black rifles shimmering in the pale light as they focused on the dark angel in the doorway. Yuna shivered at his side. She could see, just beyond the shining armored men, that the bland walls of the hallway were decorated with smears of blood and the floor with crumpled, bleeding bodies. And all around in the air danced the glowing pyreflies, small orbs of light with trails of rainbow.  
  
She was thrust back into reality when, in one deft maneuver, Sephiroth had grabbed Yuna and pinned her against his cold leather cloak. She felt the now familiar, icy blade of the Masamune touch her throat. "If you shoot," he snarled. "The Summoner will pay."  
  
"Don't shoot!" called someone from the behind the SOLDIERS. The man pushed himself to the front of the line, sporting a long white coat and wide, beady black eyes. Professor Hojo. Yuna had seen him many, many times since she had been brought to this place, to that small room. "You can't just kidnap her!"  
  
Yuna could feel Sephiroth's hard chest heave against her back as he laughed. It was a triumphant and sadistic laugh, almost as a cat would laugh when it knows the mouse is cornered. "Come and take her from me."  
  
Nobody moved, only breathed a little deeper. The pyreflies began to twirl a little faster in the silent air.  
  
Suddenly, Spehiroth's iron grip was released and she watched him throw himself at the numerous SOLDIERS.  
  
"Quick, grab the Summoner!" she heard Hojo shout over the turmoil.  
  
Four SOLDIERS, lost to the whirlwind of black leather and steel, ran to Yuna, intent on seizing her and carrying her away while Sephiroth was holding his own at the other side of the hallway.  
  
She looked into their helmeted eyes with fear. I can't fight them!  
  
But I'm not going to let them drag me back into that room again.  
  
Yuna touched her staff to her forehead and shut her eyes tight. "Shiva.... aide me!" The Summoner kneeled just as massive ice crystals flew from the walls and structured themselves behind her in a rush of freezing air.  
  
All the activity in the hallway ceased as everyone turned to stare at the Summoner and the graceful figure materializing inside the shimmering crystals. Yuna couldn't help but smirk as the spirit behind her waved an icy blue arm, shattering the ice.  
  
The Aeon stepped around the Summoner while tossing a few stray, shining azure locks over her shoulder. "You called? Looks like a couple of pitiful mercenaries."  
  
"Never mind! Diamond Dust!"  
  
"Very well, anything for darling Yuna."  
  
The Aeon smiled mischievously, placing an icy clawed finger to her bluish lips as though considering. Then her pale indigo eyes blazed and she spun on her toes, casting a blast of penetrating, solid arctic ice over the entire hallway.  
  
Shiva surveyed the occupants encased in the glittering ice. She outstretched a single, bejeweled hand and snapped her frosted fingers. At this command, the ice exploded into a thousand, diamond-like shards that melted into the air.  
  
Every SOLDIER in the hallway crumpled to the floor, frozen to death.  
  
All except Sephiroth, who pulled himself to his feet, eyes burning with emerald flame.  
  
Yuna backed up against the towering Aeon who placed a protective hand over her shoulder. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you... I didn't think the Limit Break would cover the whole place..."  
  
Sephiroth glanced at her, but did not dare make a false move in front of the ice goddess. Instead, he looked down and began to brush some stray ice shards of his cloak. "That could not cause me any serious damage."  
  
Shiva's eyes turned to fiery aqua slits, but she did not make a move without Yuna's command.  
  
The Summoner turned to the boreal spirit, who leaned forward on her knees to she could hear the whisper, "Thank you. You are dismissed."  
  
"Yuna, I do not wish to leave you here with this man. I do not trust him."  
  
"There is no one else to trust. Besides, he's helping me to escape."  
  
The Aeon stood up to her full height, raising her silky voice as she did so. "Very well, Yuna. I just don't want to see you get hurt. Three thousand years is a long time to sleep."  
  
Yuna did not stop to ponder the retreating spirit's words. She shivered, looking over the bleeding and frozen bodies, but focused on the task at hand. She turned to Sephiroth, clutching her staff, and placed a hand on the powerful man's arm.  
  
"Let me heal you."  
  
"I don't need it. Let's go."  
  
"At least - ....... at least let me send them."  
  
"Send them? Who?"  
  
Yuna wistfully regarded the pyreflies, whirling and spinning in the bleached florescent light. "Their spirits."  
  
"What do you mean? Send them where?"  
  
"To the Farplane."  
  
"The Farplane? What? There's no time. We're going," he stated bluntly, grabbed her thin wrist to drag her along behind him.  
  
She struggled, fruitlessly, against his grip. "No, I must! Otherwise they will be bound to Spira forever as monsters! I must give them peace!"  
  
Sephiroth sighed, almost a growl. Without a second thought, he forcefully hoisted the small woman onto his shoulder as though she weighed no more than a small child, the metal shoulder guard pressed painfully into her stomach.  
  
"Go back!" she cried, pounding against his back with her fist and staff as he passed through the double doors at the end of the hall. "I must send them!"  
  
Sephiroth calmly ignored her.  
  
Author's Note: whew i'm glad I got all that out of the way. now we can get down to the good stuff. next chapter: yuna and sephy escape and yuna discovers that it's been three thousand years since she defeated sin. 


	8. Shivering Stars

Yuna gazed wearily into the dancing flames. They had been walking all day and every muscle in her legs ached with fatigue. She leaned sleepily forward and absorbed more of the refreshing warmth, a stark contrast to the stinging chill of the grassy plain they were on.  
  
Waves of golden green grass for as far as her eyes could see under an endless blue sky.  
  
Now she gazed up above her, following the trail the firesmoke had left to the heavens. Above her, thousands of glowing orbs sparkled above her in the dark icy void. Yuna felt a sharp homesickness for those long summer nights in Besaid. As a child she, Wakka, and Lulu would lay outside in the cool sand under the palm trees to be lulled to sleep by the shimmering canopy of galaxies. How long ago such thoughts seemed now.  
  
Coming back to the present, her gaze turned to the man across the fire. Man? More like monster, or angel. Intimidating and powerful, strangely detached and yet aloof. He sat cross-legged, hands on his knees. The firelight cast a red gold glow on his moonlight hair and shone off his leather cloak. Could he be handsome? Possibly. Perhaps if he didn't resemble Seymour so.  
  
Sephiroth seemed to notice she was looking at him for, without opening his eyes, he spoke. "Sleep," It was a command.  
  
Yuna quickly looked away and drew her knees to her chin. "I would like to."  
  
He opened his eyes then; the already glowing green reflecting the flames made him look like the stuff of nightmares. "But?"  
  
"I can't. I suppose I am. worried."  
  
Niave and trusting, he thought. What an excellent combination. "Of what? You have no need to fear the monsters."  
  
"No.. I am afraid of you. And I do not know where we are going."  
  
As she damn well should be! I could kill her so easily for a false move, she's so small. "We are going to board an airship to take us near the North Crater."  
  
"North Crater?"  
  
"That's where I live."  
  
"May we stop in Besaid?"  
  
Sephiroth had noticed how her mismatched eyes lit up at her question. He felt captivated, trapped in her fiery green blue gaze that refused to release him. All attempts at a harsh answer fled from his throat, leaving him choking for words. "I don't know where that is."  
  
"Besaid is East of Luca. You know where that is," she said, mistaking his look for one of apprehension. "I grew up there. Besaid, I mean. With all the sand and palm trees. We even have a temple, a small one. My first Aeon." her voice trailed off into the night wind, leaving her lost in memories.  
  
Sephiroth thought outloud. "A small, tropical island to the East, correct? With a temple. It would probably be ruins by now."  
  
"No," Yuna said. "It was fine the last time I was there."  
  
"It has been a long time," he reminded her icily.  
  
"A few months," she agreed softly. "But it has not been that long."  
  
"Three thousand years."  
  
"Not that long," she grinned.  
  
"Yes, it has. Don't you understand why Hojo wanted you so badly? Your great monster, Sin, has been gone for three thousand years. Summoners have not been needed for three thousand years. Don't you get it?" he asked calmly.  
  
"No, I'm just far away. I should be home soon," she said, gripping the staff across her lap tighter than before. Hadn't Tidus said something like this had happened to him? But in the end, he was just a dream.  
  
Sephiroth chuckled at her disbelief. "Three thousand years away. Remember what your ice patron told you?"  
  
Yuna stared into the flames, Shiva's words, now bidden, came to the front of her mind. 'Three thousand years is a long time to sleep..' Was she really propelled into the future? "The Fayth has been sleeping all this time." she whispered. Lulu, Wakka, Rikku, Kimahri. all long since lived out their lives and taken to their graves. With the absence of Tidus and Auron, naught but memories and pyreflies now, she was completely and utterly alone.  
  
She shivered as the cold stars in the black emptiness above her, her heart silently joining in with their cries expressing all the forsakeness ever experienced. She was alone. Alone, alone.  
  
Sephiroth saw her staring into the fire, her unique eyes glazed over as though she were looking into another time. He shifted uneasily. "I am forsaken, too."  
  
"They are dead," she said, as though she hadn't heard him.  
  
"Who?"  
  
Her gaze returned, her eyes narrowed at him but her voice maintained it's usual gentleness save for the passion. "Everyone. They are all dead. Losing him was the worst thing I could have ever imagined, but now I do not even have my friends.."  
  
Sephiroth sighed. He sensed a pity-party. "We all lose ones we love. Everyone dies. You move on."  
  
"Do you have no regard for life? You wouldn't even let me send the spirits of those mercenaries this morning."  
  
"No, I do not. And the moment those SOLDIERS died, their souls were gathered into the Lifestream."  
  
"Didn't you see their pyreflies? Those are their souls."  
  
"I saw nothing but their broken bodies, if that's what you mean."  
  
"No, the pyreflies. Didn't you see their spirits?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Pyreflies, the lights with the rainbow tail?"  
  
"There was nothing in that hallway but bodies. You need sleep," he said.  
  
"No, I do not and I believe we should separate ways. Farewell, good Sir." With that she took up her staff, brushed the dirt off her flowered dress, and prepared to wander into the dark waves of grass and sea of stars.  
  
But Sephiroth was on his feet in an instant, silver hair and black cloak fluttering around his knees. He gazed at her over the flames with his piercing, unearthly stare. "You will come back here at once!" he roared.  
  
Yuna frowned, reminded suspiciously of Seymour. "I thank you for rescuing me, Unnamed Sir, but I am not your servant."  
  
In one swift move, Sephiroth had caught her hands behind her back, his other gloved hand over her mouth. Though she struggled, he only held her tighter to him and lowered his face so he was whispering into her ear. "Maybe so, but you will do as I command. Sleep."  
  
Yuna suddenly felt her limbs relaxing and her eyes drifting shut as she fell into a deep, unnatural sleep in the arms of the dark angel.  
  
Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to update! I had been overwhelmed so much with school, church, and friends. But never fear, I did not forget. No, by my side has always abided my handy-dandy notebook, in its pages have resided this and the next chapter till providence has shown me opportunity to relate the contents to you, dear reader. Erm.. Cough cough or something like that. neway, next chapter: Yuna and Sephiroth go to Besaid temple. 


	9. Melting Ice

Sephiroth removed one black glove and placed his palm on the pad, causing the door to swing open. They were on board a Shin-Ra military airship, entering the General's quarters.  
  
Yuna gasped and stepped inside. "These are your chambers?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," he replied, standing in the doorway. He gripped the yellow Manipulate materia in his palm tightly, the materia they had used to get on board undetected. He was pleased that his quarters had not been given to someone else but then again he was the only person with access to the room. Or was he? "Stay here," he commanded, drawing the Masamune. "I'm going to make sure everything is safe."  
  
The metal door slid shut on Yuna before she could nod so she turned to look about the rooms, a large bedroom with scarce furniture, a balcony, and a bathroom. The furniture was all black wood and, she had to agree, it seemed very much like him.  
  
Deciding on nothing better to do, Yuna paced to the black and gold fixtured bathroom and, after some minutes, discovered how to work the water for the tub. I will have to wash my clothes later as well... she thought, running her fingers over the dried blood and dirt from various battles staining her embroidered yellow obi.  
  
As she sat in the tub, she thought about her friends; Rikku, Lulu, Wakka and Kimahri. Were Sephiroth's words true? Of course not. Her friends were probably searching for her right now. They had to be.  
  
She glanced disdainfully at the lukewarm water, not nearly as clear as the crystal waves of Besaid. She had to go there and see for herself if what he said was true.  
  
"SUMMONER!" a deep voice roared from the next room.  
  
Yuna's mind was thrust out of her thoughts. "I am in here," she called back.  
  
The bathroom door slammed open and Sephiroth strode in, his huge form taking up nearly the whole doorway.  
  
"Sephiroth! I am bathing!"  
  
The great man turned around and crossed his arms, blushing. "It's not as if I have any interest, Summoner-"  
  
"My name is Yuna!"  
  
"I don't care!" he nearly growled. "I just came in to tell you that the ship will dock at Icicle Inn and from there we will depart to the Northern Crater."  
  
"But I thought we were going to Besaid..." she said, standing up and wrapping a black towel around herself.  
  
"I don't even know where that is. We're going to the Northern Crater."  
  
"No! We must go to Besaid!"  
  
Sephiroth whirled on her, advancing to her. "Remember, Summoner," he snarled. "The only reason I am taking you with me is because you can teach me how to summon and use magic without materia."  
  
"You are?"  
  
"Of course. What did you think?" he chuckled, softly. "Were you hoping that I had feelings for you?"  
  
"N-no," she admitted. She now had her back pressed against the wall and Sephiroth stood before her, watching her very curiously with his glowing emerald eyes. Her mind raced, looking for any way to get to Besaid. "There is a temple in Besaid...." she began.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"There is a Fayth there... you may acquire an Aeon," she informed, trying to play to his goals.  
  
"Aeon?"  
  
"A summoned beast."  
  
"How would I get one?"  
  
"You must pass first through the Cloister of Trials to the Chamber of the Fayth. There you must pray to the Fayth and if they are pleased with you, they will create a bond with you that allows you to summon them in times of greatest need."  
  
He nodded, slowly, and back away from her. "Very well then. We will go to Besaid. Although I warn you," he said, smiling maliciously. "That it will all be ruins."  
  
He turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sephiroth leaned against the other side of the door. That was interesting.... he thought and allowed the rest of his thoughts to scatter in every different direction. Mother's plans, Besaid, Aeons, the Summoner... wait, Yuna in the bathtub...  
  
He shook his head and walked to a small bookshelf by the bed, selecting some parchment scrolls with maps. He unraveled them all across the table in the corner of bedroom, sat down, and began to study them. A small island, east of Luca, somewhere around the equator. Where was Luca?  
  
~SHOULD BE GOING TO NOTHERN CRATER!~ a voice in his mind screeched, causing Sephiroth to wince.  
  
~I will, Mother~ he thought back.  
  
~I HAVE BEEN WAITING! MUST COME NOW!~  
  
~I am learning to become stronger~  
  
~YOU DON'T NEED TO BE STRONGER! ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO DO THIS NOW! YOU- ~  
  
Just then, Yuna stepped out of the bathroom in her dirty clothes, looking somewhat refreshed. The voice stopped. "What are you doing?" she asked, seeing him pouring over the maps, his moonlight hair draped over the table.  
  
He glanced at her, irritated. "I'm trying to locate you're precious Besaid."  
  
"I think I can help you." Yuna reached inside her obi and placed some items on the table: crystals vials of potion and ether, a strange water sphere, a crest of the moon, a leather pocket-sized Al Bhed dictionary, a signet ring of the moon, and finally a map which she unrolled onto the table.  
  
"What's this?" Sephiroth asked, taking the sphere. "I thought you didn't use materia."  
  
"It is not used for magic!" she exclaimed, trying to grab it back from him.  
  
He held her back with one hand and held the sphere in the other. Her reaction was quite interesting, this must be something very personal to her. "Really? Then what does it do?"  
  
Yuna blushed, still reaching across him for the sphere. "It records memories!"  
  
"Oh, I should like to watch it."  
  
"No!"  
  
"How do you activate it, I wonder?"  
  
Just then, the water inside the sphere began to swirl and take on color. Yuna stopped and they both stared into the sphere.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was her, Yuna, sitting near a cliff in the sunset. "Hey guys," she laughed at the phrase, but it sounded sad and far away. "If you are all watching this right now, that must mean I am not with you. I guess I recorded this to... just thank you all... for coming with me..."  
  
The water swirled again, showing faces of people Sephiroth had never seen. A blonde boy grinning like an idiot, a girl with wild hair and swirly green eyes, a severe looking woman in black with a doll, another moron in yellow overalls with a ball, a furry blue man, and a man in a red cloak.  
  
"....Thank you all so much," the sphere continued. "And Tidus, there is something I wanted to tell you. I will probably never get the chance-"  
  
Another voice broke in, loud and whiny. "Hey Yuna! Whatcha up to?"  
  
"Oh... nothing..." she giggled and the sphere turned off.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sephiroth was about to make a smart comment but thought better when he glanced over his shoulder at Yuna and saw her staring into the sphere, crying. He felt a pang of concern. "What's wrong?" he asked, putting the sphere down on the table again. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize the sphere meant that much to you. I wouldn't have looked if I'd known..."  
  
"No, no. It's not that," she laughed, brushing away the tears. "It is just the memories... all coming back to me."  
  
He suddenly felt very awkward. He wasn't quite sure how to comfort people, and even more uncomfortable was the fact that he'd never wanted to comfort anyone before. Instead, he turned to the map she had unrolled on the table and began to ponder over it. It was painted in bright water colors on what appeared to be course palm leaf pulp.  
  
"Very ornate," he commented.  
  
Yuna placed on hand on his should and leaned over the other, pointing to the objects on the map. "The woman there, painted on the left side of the map, is Lady Yunalesca. She was the first Summoner to ever defeat Sin. I am named after her."  
  
So obviously Yuna's parents had intended for her to become a Summoner. Her life had been laid out before she was born. Destiny, you can't escape it.  
  
"And there on the right is Lord Zaon, he husband. He became her Final Aeon. Oh, and there," she pointed to the top of the map where a symbol of a bird was painted. "Is the sign of Yevon. Our god," she explained.  
  
"Fascinating. Where's Besaid?"  
  
"Oh! Right there," she pointed to a small island to the southwest on the map.  
  
"Not quite where I would have expected it," Sephiroth commented, turning the map different ways. "Wait...."  
  
He grabbed one of his maps, and began to compare the two. After some minutes, he glanced back up at her. "You may want to go to bed."  
  
Yuna glanced out the glass balcony doors and saw that it was dark outside, golden stars flicked past on a soft bed of clouds. "Okay." She gathered her things into her obi and crawled under the sheets of the big bed, facing the balcony. The soft motion of the ship and stars moving past eventually whirled into a portal of night and lulled her confused mind to sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"What do you mean she's gone?" a blonde man asked behind his huge swivel chair, looking out the windows before him of the nightscape of Midgar.  
  
"General Sephiroth, sir, broke in and kidnapped her."  
  
The President of Shin-Ra, Inc. whirled in his chair to face the unfortunate scientist before him.  
  
"Do you realize, Hojo, that General Sephiroth has been dead for five years?" Rufus's voice was becoming dangerously low. "And that the Summoner is most important thing to happen to this company in several years? If we could have learned her secrets, we could have shut down the mako reactors and cut costs by billions!"  
  
Rufus leaned on his desk and ran a hand through his blonde hair. "You are dismissed. I'll clean up you're mistake."  
  
Professor Hojo shuffled out of the room, straightening his lab coat. If he wanted to keep his job, he'd have to be more careful in the future. As soon as the Summoner was located, she would never be leaving his sight.  
  
Meanwhile, Rufus rested his chin on his knuckles and stared at the red button on his telephone. After a moment, he pushed it.  
  
"I want 100 SOLDIERS on each continent mobilized immediately. It is a search and retrieve mission. The target is female, age 17, height 5'2"...."  
  
Author's Note: sorry it took so long to update! i went to visit my grandmother in M- sur M-, and then had to complete all the makeup work for school. so i decided to give you all an extra treat. 6 whole pages! wow! i know i promised to put in sephiroth and yuna at besaid temple, but when i realise how much needed to be written..... on another note, i am considering writting a book. what do you all think? should i go for or hone my skills a little longer? your opinions are held in high regard, so please let me know! 


	10. Hauntings

Yuna awoke slowly, blinking herself awake. Sunlight was filtering into the room and lay across the appropriately black sheets and blankets. She sleepily rubbed her blue green eyes, looking to see where Sephiroth was.  
  
The room was empty. She shuffled across the carpet to the table and thrust her map into her obi before heading to the bathroom to splash her face and brush her hair with a comb that had several silver hairs stuck in it.  
  
"Summoner!" a voice boomed from the next room. Sephiroth strode boldly into the bathroom with a fistful of maps which he shoved into his black coat. "I've found your island. We're leaving now." He grabbed her upper arm proceeded to drag her out.  
  
"You are hurting me!" she shrieked as he pulled her into the corridor. "Please unhand-"  
  
A gloved hand flew over her mouth as he pushed her against the wall, his eyes blazing green fire. "Shut up! Do you want to be found?" he hissed. "Do you want to be sent to that little room again?"  
  
"N-no..."  
  
"Then be quiet and follow me."  
  
He released her continued down the hallway, not bothering to look back to see if she followed. She followed meekly behind him, watching his silver hair swish back and forth in front of her.  
  
"Get back," he said suddenly, pushing her down another hallway and into an alcove to avoid detection. Yuna peeked over his shoulder and saw a group of armored mercenaries march past. "The subject should still be on the ship. Code 3687 will be in effect, subject is wanted alive and unharmed. Objective is 5'1", female...."  
  
"They are searching for me..." she whispered.  
  
Room entry records must be sent to Shin-Ra, he thought bitterly. Why didn't I disable that while I was at the computers? "We must hurry," was all he said.  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"Just come on."  
  
They went farther, down more bland hallways and past more barracks until they reached a set of glass double doors. Sephiroth swung them open with ease and a strong, tropical wind rushed in, almost sweeping Yuna off balance. Sephiroth put and arm around her and helped her to the railings of the balcony. She looked out over the railings and could see a small island approaching quickly, from a small green dot to the heads of trees. They must have been moving in a very fast dive.  
  
"Get ready to jump," Sephiroth advised.  
  
"Jump?!" she shouted over the wind.  
  
He put one foot onto the railing, pulling her up with him. "We only have one shot before the ship sweeps over, so be ready to jump."  
  
"I cannot!"  
  
Sephiroth looked at her before wrapping his other arm around her, pulling her closer to him.  
  
"What are you doing?!"  
  
He jumped, taking her with him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
They impacted hard on the sand, Yuna having the breath knocked out of her. Sephiroth pulled himself to his feet without looking at her, brushing the sand off his leather clothing.  
  
She sat up too, trying force air into her burning lungs.  
  
"Looks like a dead end, Summoner," he commented, looking into the darkened forest of palms and vines before him.  
  
Yuna stood up, clutching her side. She looked around her, at the crystal waves, white sand, and emerald palm trees. "No," she wheezed. "This is Besaid." Yuna knew this was Besaid, the air was still the same, tropical flowers mingled with the sea breeze.  
  
"Where's your temple now, Summoner."  
  
Yuna had enough. After being forced around, jumping off an airship, and losing her breath, not mention that her companion was bringing grief could only wear one so thin. "Then why did you bring me here? Did you wish to prove a point? I am quite positive it was not because you wished to please me."  
  
"I came here because I want to learn to summon," he said, crossing his arms. "I overrode the ships computers to bring us here because you said there was a temple here."  
  
"There is," she said. She looked into the forest of palms. Although she did not want to admit it, what Sephiroth had said about three thousand years passing must have been true. The place where her village should have been was now completely overgrown.  
  
Yuna fought back the emotions at seeing her home like this and walked into the forest. Golden rays of sun filtered through the palm trees onto the forest floor, carpeted with brown palm leaves and colorful flowers. They passed a ruin here and there, a large building stone or signs carved on rock. The ruins began to grow more thick until they reached a large stone building partially pulling itself out of the earth.  
  
"The temple..." she gasped to herself amazed, feeling Sephiroth pull up behind her. Thick, ropy vines grew up the sides and curled themselves around the spire, projecting itself proudly into a sunbeam while the visible bottom of the temple was wrapped up against huge tree roots.  
  
Yuna approached the temple and looked to where the covered walk to the opening should be. All she saw was half covered slab of rock with an large hole leading under it.  
  
"We'll need light," Sephiroth said, following her gaze to the opening in the earth. He reached into his cloak, pulling out a red orb. He whispered to it, and a flame sprouted inside the crystal.  
  
Yuna nodded gratefully and Sephiroth walked to the hole and lowered himself in first. "It's quite all right down here, Summoner. It's only a short drop."  
  
Yuna walked to the edge of the hole and dropped herself into it, feeling herself fall into two strong arms in the almost darkness and being set on her feet.  
  
"T-Thank you," she said, grateful the dim red light keep him from seeing her blush.  
  
"It's nothing," he said, turning away his glowing eye to scan their surroundings. They were in the covered walkway, only now beyond the pillars to the outside was only cold, hard earth with roots working their way out to twine on the ceiling. "There," Yuna said, pointing to a doorway ahead of them. Sephiroth went first, holding the materia out with his palm to light the way.  
  
The door opened into a huge round room, and Yuna could see hundreds of rainbow pyreflies spiraling their way around the room, casting an eerie glow about the chamber. There were large alcoves in the walls, filled with enormous statues. Sephiroth moved to the middle of the chamber, looking all about himself while Yuna went to a statue near her.  
  
"This is Besaid temple. I used to come here so often... Can you see this statue? This is Lady Yunalesca. Do you remember I told you about her? And here," she said, walking to another. "Is my father, Lord Braska. He fought and died defeating Sin when I was seven years old, to avenge my mother. I never got to know him too well but from what I heard, he was a great man." She stood, gazing at the statue for a moment. "And this statue here, this is-" She stopped, gasping.  
  
"...... Is who?" Sephiroth finished, turning to look. "Oh."  
  
"....This is me," Yuna said, reaching out to touch the cold feet of the statue. A thirty foot, stone version of herself stood over her, clutching a staff of rock. "They must have put this here many years after I defeated Sin."  
  
"All of this does prove your story," he said, walking to stand by her.  
  
"And yours as well," she said, looking up at him before looking away again. "I only wish you were wrong."  
  
"C'mon guys!" a high voice shouted across the chamber, sounding slightly garbled. "We have to find Yunie!"  
  
Yuna turned. "Rikku!"  
  
Rikku stood at the other end of the chamber, looking off to another doorway, surrounded by pyreflies. She put on hand on her hip, the arm with the huge claw, and cocked her head so her blonde hair bobbed about on the top of her head. "She has to be in here!"  
  
"I am here!" Yuna shouted, running across the room to her. The girl did not turn, even as Yuna flung herself at the girl and fell through her to land hard against the floor.  
  
"Summoner!" Sephiroth shouted, running to her and helping to pick up from the hard, cold floor. "Why did you do that? Keep away from the ghosts. We don't know if they're enemies."  
  
"They are not ghosts," Yuna said stubbornly, feeling tears well up in her eyes while Sephiroth held her fast against him to keep her from running at them again. "They are my guardians..."  
  
"I hope she's here," came another voice from a doorway behind them. "She hasn't been anywhere else.  
  
"Well, she can't stay hidden foreva, yah?"  
  
They turned to see a woman in black standing in the doorway, flanked by a man in yellow trousers with a blue ball. Sephiroth shook his head in sudden realization. These were the people from Yuna's sphere. She knew these people.  
  
"The come on! To the Cloister of Trails!" the blonde piqued, running up the stairs at the other end of the room into the doorway and disappearing.  
  
"Seems like quite a long time to be praying," Lulu commented, obediently following Rikku.  
  
"Hey, wait for me, bruddas!" Wakka shouted, bumbling along after Lulu.  
  
Yuna began to shiver. Sephiroth turned her to face him, with an arm on her shoulders and saw that she was crying. "Th-they are spirits... they cannot see me. They are looking and they cannot find me! They shall never find me!" Yuna broke free of his grasp and escaped into one of the priest's chambers off the stairs to the Cloister of Trials.  
  
Author's Note: sry it took me so long to update! i've been trying to decide what to do next. I know basically how i'd like the plot to go, but what would you all like to see happen in between? give me some feedback! 


	11. Friend or Foe?

Darkness. Yuna couldn't see her surroundings from where she sat on the floor but she knew there would be nothing that had been there in her time. The wall hangings had probably fallen long ago and rotted, the mats shredded with use, and the pottery cracked and shattered. She could feel the cold stone floor under her dress, hear the occasional 'plink' of water onto the floor, but she didn't care. She just couldn't digest what she had just seen.  
  
Pyreflies... Were they truly dead or just ghosts of the past? How could she be so far from home, and yet right there?  
  
"Tidus," she whispered to the darkness. "I wish you were here."  
  
~~~~*  
  
Sephiroth still stood in the center of the tiled floor. What just happened? He glanced at the fire materia in his hand before whispering to it and putting it away, relying on his mako-infused eyes. The whole room now seemed to glow aquamarine before him, as though he were underwater. He could see, deep in a chamber by the stairs, Yuna lying on the floor and staring into the darkness.  
  
"Yuna."  
  
She looked up, now noticing the two glowing emeralds suspended above her head. She cringed inwardly.  
  
"I will show you to the Chamber of the Fayth."  
  
He knelt down next to her. "Are you well?"  
  
"I will be fine."  
  
Then Sephiroth did something he never expected to do. He reached out and stroked her hair, feeling its softness beneath his gloves, watching her eyes widen. Then, surprised at his actions, he stood up and backed away several paces.  
  
"Than get up. There is a lot to do."  
  
She stood up shakily, picking up her staff from where it lay forlorn at her side and followed him into the main chamber. "Where do we go from here?" he asked, again taking the materia from his jacket to light her way.  
  
"Up those stairs," she pointed. "That will lead us to the Cloister of Trials, where we will have to pass a test to be allowed into the Chamber."  
  
"What particular type of test?" he asked, checking the materia slots in Masamune.  
  
"We must find our way through the maze."  
  
"I doubt that will be difficult."  
  
"Not if you do not know the way," she added with a half-hearted smile.  
  
"Even so, stay behind me," he instructed. "It has been a long time since you were here last and, most likely, the passageways are infested with monsters."  
  
He handed her the blazing materia then swept up the stairs before disappearing from sight, Yuna slowly bringing up the rear.  
  
"Now," she instructed. "Touch the glyth on the wall. Yes, the glowing symbol, that is right. The door will open."  
  
The large stone slab cranked upward slowly, revealing a staircase leading down into darkness.  
  
"I see something glowing down there," he said as they cautiously advanced down the crumbling stone stairs.  
  
"That is a Besaid sphere," she whispered. "We should put it into another slot farther on and the magic inside will open the door to the chamber beyond."  
  
Sephiroth stopped by the slot, staring at the shimmering blue ball suspiciously. "This is materia," he said, finally lifting it and weighing it in his palms. "And it's powerful. Pure. I don't think it's ever been split."  
  
"I do not know much of your materia, but we do not use this for menial use. It is sacred," she nodded.  
  
"Hardly. Is there more of this?"  
  
"There are different kinds in all the temples, if that is what you mean. Macalania temple has ice spheres and Djose temple has fire spheres."  
  
"There are temples - like this one?"  
  
"Yes, many more. But I do not know if they are still standing."  
  
"Holy Planet," he sighed under his breath.  
  
~~~~*  
  
The door slowly slid open to the Chamber of the Fayth, dust and dirt shaking free from its ancient crust. A gentle orange light flooded out the doors, pulsating softly.  
  
"This... this cannot be!" Yuna gasped, stepping quickly into the chamber and leaning over the glass on the floor.  
  
"What can't be?" he asked, walking up behind her and leaning over her should to peer into the glass. Underneath, a human figure with leathery wings lying motionless, fused with some sort of metal beneath him. "What is that?"  
  
"That is an Aeon. But how this came to be, I do not know. The Fayth... it is dreaming again."  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked stepping back and turning her to look into his eyes. "What's is it?"  
  
"When I banished Sin, three thousand years ago, the Fayth awoke. Their dream ended and the Aeons were gone." The Summoner looked down, trying not to cry. "As well as the rest of their dream. People... and pyreflies. I came here often... to this temple to pray.. because I lived here, but the Aeon never glowed again. And when I came to this world, your world, I- I never even thought how I could summon again. I only knew that I could and the thought never came to me. But now -- seeing this-- I wonder; how can this be?" She looked into his eyes.  
  
Sephiroth looked at the form in the floor. That was the story he had read in books as well. If it was true, then she was right. How could this happen? "The only reasonable solution is that there must be another Fayth," he concluded solemnly.  
  
"But who? And when?"  
  
"I don't know who and I can't tell you how recently. Ever since the Lost Summoner, Lady Yunalesca - that's you - disappeared, people really stopped going to temples. Your story is so old it became legend. After the old cities and villages were lost to time, people would go out to look for the ancient temples. No one ever came up with much of anything, so it's impossible to say when a new Fayth could have come about. Although, I don't have an idea how you would do such a thing."  
  
Yuna looked aside thoughtfully. "Well," she said, hastily changing the subject. "Now you must pray."  
  
Sephiroth raised an delicate eyebrow. "I don't know any prayers."  
  
Yuna laid down her staff and stepped back to demonstrate, her bare feet echoing oddly off the ancient walls. "You step back on this foot then move your arms and bring them together. Like this," she cracked open an eye and watched him repeat it with grace. "Then you kneel and commune with the Fayth."  
  
"I can do that."  
  
"Good. Now stand here at the foot of the Aeon and do it."  
  
"What do I pray for?"  
  
"For the Aeon to aid you in helping the people of Spira and to rid the Planet of Sin."  
  
Sephiroth frowned but did as he was told. He'd never experienced anything like it. Kneeling by the Aeon, a thousand voices rushed into his head.  
  
~It is he!~  
  
~The forsaken one~  
  
~The lost child~  
  
~What does he do here?~  
  
~WHY HAVE YOU COME?~  
  
~Will he help us?~  
  
"To gain your power."  
  
~YOU MAY ONLY USE OUR POWER TO HELP SPIRA~  
  
~Has the lost child discovered who he is?~  
  
~Will he kill the disease?~  
  
~The plague?~  
  
~The downfall of the planet?~  
  
~Will he kill that which he believes to be his mother?~  
  
~WILL YOU USE OUR POWER TO KILL THE DISEASE?~  
  
"What disease is this?"  
  
~He is still lost!~  
  
~The child, one of the last, is lost!~  
  
~He is with the enemy!~  
  
~THE DISEASE CALLED JENOVA THAT HAS ATTEMPTED TO DRINK THE LIFEBLOOD OF THIS PLANET AND WILL ATTEMPT TO DO SO AGAIN.~  
  
"I will not kill Mother."  
  
~He is lost!~  
  
~We must needs take him back to us in the Lifestream~  
  
~No, deliver a guide to show him the path to his true people!~  
  
~The Cetra flowergirl~  
  
~She is occupied, she travels in the company of the chosen ones~  
  
~The time is not ready for her~  
  
~The Cetra Summoner~  
  
~She does not commune as the flowergirl~  
  
~We shall attain her attention~  
  
~ LET US SPEAK TO THE SUMMONER WITH YOU~  
  
~Yes, another dear child!~  
  
~We had believed her to be lost as well, but she is here now~  
  
~She will aid us~  
  
~It will not be easy~  
  
Yuna saw Sephiroth's eyes crack open, then nod to her to kneel too. Voices intruded into her head as well, different from those of her companion's.  
  
~Her companion, he is sick~  
  
~He is lost~  
  
~HIS QUEST IS CORRUPTED.~  
  
~The Summoner will help us~  
  
~HE SEEKS TO DESTROY US, THE VERY BEINGS HE ASKS STRENGTH OF.~  
  
"What must I do?"  
  
~Take him to his mother's grave~  
  
~Take him to his father's coffin, where he lies only sleeping~  
  
~But soon his father shall walk among the living, with the chosen ones, though he is lost to shadow~  
  
~Take him to the great wound in the North~  
  
~Do not let him receive the Black Materia in the great temple~  
  
"Bevelle?"  
  
~WE SHALL NOT DO ANY OF THINGS THINGS. CHILD, SEND HIM TO THE TEMPLE TO THE EAST.~  
  
"Kilika?"  
  
~YES YES YES. WE MUST FURTHER OBSERVE THE LOST CHILD. IT IS DARK INDEED TO BRING HIM TO THE LIFESTREAM WHEN HE CAN BE SHOWN A ROAD. PRAY AT THE EASTERN TEMPLE, WE SHALL INSTRUCT YOU THERE. FARE WELL, CHILD, AND BE CAREFUL. CALL UPON US IF THERE IS NEED FOR WE SHALL PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.~  
  
~AMEN.~  
  
~Amen~  
  
~Amen~  
  
"Amen."  
  
Sephiroth opened an eye. "Do I have an Aeon?"  
  
Yuna shook her head, standing up and brushing herself off. "No, you do not."  
  
"Why?" he practically growled, eyes smoldering.  
  
"Because you they do not like the intentions you will use them for," she said, trying to glare back but failing miserably so she settled to for her feet instead, suddenly becoming fascinated with a silver toe ring.  
  
He glared, crossing his arms. "What intentions would those be, Summoner?"  
  
"Please call me by my name," Yuna pleaded. "And I do not know your intentions. They only said they wanted me to take you to the temple to the East, in Kilika."  
  
He sighed, raising a palm to his forehead. "I haven't the time to go on a treasure hunt all over Planet."  
  
Yuna looked at the Aeon in the floor while rubbing her arm for warmth. "That is not what they said..."  
  
"Right now, I am more interesting in finding who made this new Fayth. Their power must be great."  
  
Yuna bit her lip, watching fearfully as Sephiroth lifted his hands and gazed above him. "If I can get such power, I will be the greatest being on the Planet, the one true heir. I will be a god."  
  
So those are his intentions, she thought. He's just using me to gain power. I knew he looked and acted familiar... like Seymoure!  
  
She looked up, shocked at this revelation, then dropped her staff and ran from the chamber.  
  
Author's Note: I hope someone picked up on the blatant Tidus references *cough cough*. In any case, sorry it took me so long to update! No one has really been updating (or reviewing. heh!) lately, so I've been slightly unmotivated. Thanks to Angel of Evil's Bane, Tenko Kouno, and Teensy Whitman for helping to give the motivation I needed! Next Chapter: searching for the Fayth. 


End file.
